That was one of the many plaudits given to Staten Island's three-term borough president Sunday night, as he was presented with a leadership award at a gala event hosted by the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center of Staten Island.

Molinaro, whose final term in office ends this year, received the JCC's Allan Weissglass Distinguished Leadership Award, as the community center's executives celebrated what they called a "common sense" approach to supporting senior citizens, creating the Borough President's Committee on Autism and spearheading a host of improvements across the borough.

"In the past, we have given this award to great leaders, but they were always from our JCC family, people we have worked with and admired," said Weissglass, the award's first recipient.

"However, this year we honor a leader of Staten Island, our hometown. Jim has been a great leader before Sandy, during Sandy and after Sandy. To have his name linked with mine is my honor."

Molinaro said, however, that he felt that the event's organizers deserved the recognition more than he, crediting people like Weissglass, event chairmen Al Bernikow and Jay Chazanoff, and developer R. Randy Lee for supporting his run for borough president in the first place.

"They gave me the moral strength, the financial ways of doing it, and the support all through those years. But the first thing was the toughest, and I know that they were told by many people, many people, that he will never do it, and he will not be that good a borough president," he said. "And they said, 'Nonsense.' They had more faith in me than I had in me, and that's a fact...I was blessed for having friends like that."

Attendees included city Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), who's seeking election to the post of borough president this year; Steven Matteo, who's running for Oddo's seat; former Rep. Vito Fossella, and two mayoral hopefuls, Sal Albanese and John Catsimatidis.

A video titled "Jim Molinaro: A Retrospective," chronicled his rise from a shoeshine boy in Manhattan's Little Italy, to Deputy Borough President under Guy V. Molinari, to three-term borough president, and referenced projects he championed, such as the restoration of the South Beach Boardwalk.

David Sorkin, the JCC's executive director, hailed Molinaro for his role in advancing millions of dollars in capital improvements for the JCC, and directly funding more than 25 buses to take borough senior citizens to the center.

"I hope that you live to the ripe old age of 120," Sorkin said, "and let me tell you why, so that we can continue your legacy, so that we can continue watching you as a leader, so you can help us, wherever you are, in whatever leadership roles you may take in the future, because you're really a superhero to us."